Hydrogenation of Aqueous Acetic Acid over Ru-Sn/TiO2 Catalyst in a Flow-Type Reactor, Governed by Reverse Reaction

Ru-Sn/TiO2 is an effective catalyst for hydrogenation of aqueous acetic acid to ethanol. In this paper, a similar hydrogenation process was investigated in a flow-type rather than a batch-type reactor. The optimum temperature was 170 degrees C for the batch-type reactor because of gas production at higher temperatures; however, for the flow-type reactor, the ethanol yield increased with reaction temperature up to 280 degrees C and then decreased sharply above 300 degrees C, owing to an increase in the acetic acid recovery rate. The selectivity for ethanol formation was improved over the batch process, and an ethanol yield of 98 mol % was achieved for a 6.7 min reaction (cf. 12 h for batch) (liquid hourly space velocity: 1.23 h(-1)). Oxidation of ethanol to acetic acid (i.e., the reverse reaction) adversely affected the hydrogenation. On the basis of these results, hydrogenation mechanisms that include competing side reactions are discussed in relation to the reactor type. These results will help the development of more efficient catalytic procedures. This method was also effectively applied to hydrogenation of lactic acid to propane-1,2-diol.